True Love Pervails
by kayceejay-1
Summary: What would happen if Ron and Harry found a 'magical' room full of female's diaries? Would they use it to their advantage? Be shocked by what they read? This story is under reconstruction at the moment, but feel free to read it anyway.
1. Room of Requirement

Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and walked to the room of requirement as fast as he could. He needed peace and quiet, and something that could help him with his relationship problems. He repeated these needs in his mind as hard and loud as he could until a door popped up with a large brass handle. He reached his hand out to turn the knob and witnessed a whole room full of pictures of Hermione smiling down. _Wait, something's wrong. I don't like Hermione that way._ Just as suddenly as he had thought this, all the pictures changed to Ginny. _Well, that's more like it._ He sighed. Then, as soon as he sank down into a chair, the pictures returned to Hermione. _What's going on in this room?_ His mind screamed. He was 1000 sure he didn't love Hermione as anything more than a friend. _I love GINNY!_ The pictures changed back. _Wait…no, I don't love Ginny. I don't love anyone! I can't love anyone._ But the pictures stayed with pictures of Ginny. _Maybe this room knows something I don't. _He heard a sigh from someone, but it wasn't him, as the pictures changed to Hermione. He looked around frantically, and he realized that Ron was on the other side of the room laying on his back looking at the pictures on the ceiling.

He laughed out loud and then walked over to Ron and said, "So that's why they kept changing to Hermione."  
Ron looked startled. "YOU made them change to GINNY?"

_Fuck. Say no. Say no!_  
"Yes." He said. He felt he could trust Ron even if it was his sister.  
"So you're telling me that you like her?" Ron uttered in disbelief.  
"Always have, mate." Harry replied sheepishly.  
"B-b-but, why didn't you tell me?" he started in a more humorous tone.  
"Well I just didn't think you'd approve. It would be weird." Harry answered quickly.  
"I've wanted you to go out with her since that _idiot_ Michael Corner." Ron laughed.  
"Well it's too late now, because it will never work out."  
"Of course it will, Harry. As long as I don't have to watch you do anything th.."  
"Well no offense mate, but I didn't mean it wouldn't work because of you."   
"Oh." Ron said dejectedly.  
"I just don't think she likes me. I'm too insensitive, look at what happened with me and Cho. And I don't want to hurt Ginny. I just can't do this because of Voldemort, _oh come on Ron, _he'll hurt the closest people to me. I just … can't love G…" Harry faltered and stopped talking completely.

He looked at Ron with pleading eyes, begging him to not push this subject any farther. Instantly, as if Ron read his mind, he looked around the room and started talking about random things. Harry looked at bookshelf after bookshelf and wondered if they were all romance novels. He went over to the first one and picked up a green book with hearts on the cover and the word Mine. His curiosity got the better of him and he called Ron over to read this book that he had found.

He felt as if he had struck gold because as soon as he read the first page it said Hermione's Private Diary. "What the …" Ron muttered. "What's a diary?"

"It's a muggle's way of writing down and keeping all your private and secret thoughts on paper. Ron, this is her private diary. We shouldn't read this. It might say things we don't want to hear." Harry realized that Ron would be crushed if it told who she liked, if it wasn't him.

"Have you gone mental Harry? Who knows what we could learn about Hermione from this book?" Ron argued.

"But it's wrong to read someone else's diary Ron, and I…" he looked at Ron's stupid grin, and continued. "You can't tell her we read it."

"Of course not. I'm not an idiot." Ron laughed.

"Ok here goes nothing..." Harry turned the page.


	2. How A Woman's Brain Works

**A/N:** Ok sorry the last chapter was so short but I just wanted it to be a little taster and it's the first thing that popped into my head when I was writing a story, so it is what it is. Please read and review because they always make me smile. And if you're reading this you get a cookie because I usually skip A/N's.

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing except the plot, and maybe a few characters. If you see something you don't recognize from the book, then it's probably mine. J.K Rowling created the whole Harry Potter universe and deserves every ounce of credit for it.

---

_He felt as if he had struck gold because as soon as he read the first page it said Hermione's Private Diary. "What the …" Ron muttered. "What's a diary?" _

"_It's a muggle's way of writing down and keeping all your private and secret thoughts on paper. Ron, this is her private diary. We shouldn't read this. It might say things we don't want to hear." Harry realized that Ron would be crushed if it told who she liked, if it wasn't him. _

"_Have you gone mental Harry? Who knows what we could learn about Hermione from this book?" Ron argued. _

"_But it's wrong to read someone else's diary Ron, and I…" he looked at Ron's stupid grin, and continued. "You can't tell her we read it." _

"_Of course not. I'm not an idiot." Ron laughed. _

"_Ok here goes nothing..." Harry turned the page._

---

"I'm grateful I have you diary, because I have someone to confide in and tell all my secrets and thoughts to that I can't tell anyone else. There are lots of things that go on in my life that I couldn't possibly tell Ron and Harry, even though they're my best friends. There's just stuff that they wouldn't understand. I'm afraid that if anyone ever read this, they might want to kill me. What I write here is what I truly think, feel, and do. But that doesn't mean that I would tell that to the person, because there are just some things you keep to yourself. Goodnight, diary, I think I'm off to bed." Harry read.

"Hey, we're in the first entry of her liary!" Ron exclaimed happily. "Continue, please."

"It's called a diary, not a liary." Harry corrected. He continued with the next entry. "Dear Diary, I wrote a long letter to Victor today, and Ron seemed angry. I don't understand why he doesn't want me to be happy and have a pen pal. He always gets mad as soon as I mention Victor so maybe I just won't bring him up anymore. He's the one that used to admire him and want his autograph, but ever since the Yule Ball he acts as if he's a bad guy. He honestly is very trustworthy, sweet, kind and.." Harry was cut off by a fuming Ron.

"I was not mad! I was…I was…I wasn't mad, that's all. She can have all the pen pals she wants, and it won't bother me. Her precious 'Vicky' just needs to shove off and get a life. I wasn't mad. I was…" He seemed lost for words, so Harry quickly answered for him.

"You were jealous, mate. You want her to be happy, just not with him. And I think that we should stop reading if you're going to get upset every time she says something you don't like. Trust me Ron, I know all about it because I've felt the same for Ginny when she goes on about her current boyfriend. Do you want to stop reading?" Harry finished quickly.

"Of course I don't want to stop reading! I'm learning here. And you're right, Harry. I was jealous. I'm glad I have someone to tell that to and I'm glad it's you."

"Ok well I'll skip all the parts about Victor in this entry and go to the next thing written in it." Harry smiled.

"Thanks." Ron looked relieved to not have to listen how amazing Victor was.

"….But if you want to know what I really think, then I'll confide in you diary. I think Ron was jealous that I went on and on about Victor. And to tell you the truth, I kind of liked the attention. It may sound cruel, but I liked the fact that he cared enough to get angry. I'll never tell him of course, but that doesn't mean that it's not true. However nice I think Victor is, he's still only, and always will be, my friend. Nothing more. We tried the whole relationship thing and it didn't work. And even if it had, I have my eyes on someone else right now. Well, 'night diary." Harry looked awestruck.

Ron looked even more awestruck. _Wow, I think maybe we're learning how the female mind works. That's more than any man in the history of evolution has leaned. _Harry thought. Ron just kept reading the entry over and over as if hoping it would talk back (_which,_ Harry thought, _doesn't_ _seem impossible since it's Hermione's Diary_). Ron had the same stupid grin on his face he always had when he was happy. 

"She…likes it when I get jealous?" Ron asked Harry.

"Apparently she likes the thought of you caring." He replied.

"And she doesn't like Victor?" He looked completely giddy.

"Nope." Harry smiled.

"Keep reading Harry!" Ron almost shouted.

"Ok…here goes. Dear Diary, Today I got into a fight with Harry. He can get such a fiery temper sometimes! He was biting my head off, as usual. Ron was talking with me after the fight and basically put me in my place about how my temper is just as bad as his, or can be. I still am waiting for an apology from Harry, but until then I think I'll just ignore him. I absolutely loathe fighting with Harry and/or Ron because well, I don't know why. They can act stupid, goofy, and childish sometimes, but they're both strong and have great personalities. They both know what they're about and they can always make me laugh. Especially Ron. He's such a goofball…"Harry was cut off once again by Ron.

"She thinks I'm funny?" He said with his famous lopsided grin.

Rolling his eyes, Harry continued. "He's such a goofball but he can be serious when I need him to be. Harry, on the other hand, has had so much to deal with in his life that it's near impossible for him to enjoy life and be silly. Although I do think he's perfect the way he is, because he's such an amazing friend. He's never let anyone hurt me, and I know he tries not to hurt me on purpose. I always get mad so easily, because as Ron said, I have just as bad a temper as him. My homework is all finished but of course Ron and Harry don't even care about the pile loading up. But they'll care as soon as they can't become aurors because they didn't do their schoolwork, won't they? I say that, but I can't lie to you diary. I think that they'll be the best aurors the magical world has ever seen because Harry has something to avenge and Ron is right behind Harry every step of the way. I admire them both so much and I think truly deep in my heart, I wouldn't make it without them. But I won't go telling them that, because I'm afraid their heads might explode. Well I imagine that they think I'm working on homework over here scribbling away, but our next class is potions. Poor Harry, Snape's a jerk to him. Wait, I forgot. I'm supposed to be mad at him. Well I can't stay mad at either of those numskulls for long. I haven't figured out why yet, but maybe I'll try and wait for an apology. Great, we're off to potions." Harry took a breath as he finished the long entry.

"You would think someone as intelligent as Hermione would have at least divided the paragraphs!" Ron laughed. "But I don't mind because I still get the gist of what she means. Did you realize we're in every entry so far?"

"Well now we know that all she wants is an apology when I bite her head off, she likes it when you pay attention to her, and she really admires both of us. Wow, this is definitely a gold mine."

"You've got that right." Ron agreed.

"But we really should be getting back to the Common Room. I think we can come back and read later." Harry thought out loud.

_Before we end up staying here all night because Ron wants to read more._ He thought to himself.

"Ok Harry, we can save some more for later. Sounds good to me." He smiled. "I am so glad we found this little green book."

"I have to admit, I'm learning things I never knew guys could learn." Harry laughed.

With this comment they carefully replaced the book back on its shelf and headed to the door. They had quiditch practice, homework, and dinner in the Great Hall left. Then they would go off to bed.

--

Later that night at dinner, Harry and Ron met up with Hermione for the first time since class that morning.

"Where in the world have you two been?" She sighed exasperated.

"Well we were reading…" Ron looked horror struck as he said something he didn't mean to. "Um, we were reading our…" He looked desperately at Harry.

"We were reading books, we had quiditch practice, and we actually did most of our homework. And now we're here eating dinner with you." He cast a furtive look at Ron.

"You two did your homework? Are you kidding me?" she looked amazed. "And what book, exactly, where you reading?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah we did. And it was a green book and it was veryyy educational." Ron laughed.

_Well, it's not a lie. _Harry thought.

"Wow, you two are acting strange." Hermione said thoughtfully. "But maybe I like this new homework attitude."

All three of them scarfed down their dinner and headed the Common Room. They stayed up pretty late working on the potions homework. By the end, Harry had managed to scrape what he hoped was at least not a failing grade. Potions was always his worst subject, but he had to take it if he wanted to be an auror. Plus he had Hermione to help him, and he thought that if he had a different teacher besides Snape, he might actually be able to make the potions.

Harry looked over at Ron who was finishing up his essay and then looked at Hermione who had obviously finished hers hours before. Yet she was still scribbling on what looked like green parchment. He almost laughed out loud when he realized she had charmed the pages to look like parchment so they wouldn't suspect what she was doing. She was a smart one, Hermione was.

"Well I think I'm off to bed you two." Hermione stood up and stretched. "I'm really proud of you for actually doing your homework. It's just not like you. But it's all a good thing I suppose because it is something that needs to be done." She continued in her lecturing voice, only it sounded softer and more feminine. _Well feminine is the only word I could think of to describe it, _he thought viciously. _It's not like you meant she's never like a female or something!_

"Ok Hermione, I'm glad you're proud of us. We…" he thought for a moment of what words to use. "have always admired you for being such a excellent friend."

"Yeah Hermione, you're amazing" Ron added.

"Well I don't know what's gotten into you two, but I have to admit: I like it. 'Night"

"Night," smiled Harry.

"Sweet dreams, 'Mione." Ron replied.

After she was gone, Ron complimented Harry on his choice of words. "Wow, this whole diary thing is actually paying off." He said.

"Yeah I know. I can't wait until the next time we go down there." Harry replied. "Tomorrow sound good?"

"If we have to wait that long." Ron grinned.

---

**A/n: Thanks to my reviewers since I just posted my entry like 5 minutes ago and I already have 3 reviews! Wow, I didn't know this was good. But since none of you had anything negative to say, I'll start right away on the next chapter. Please review and I'll give you a cookie. **

Cookies to:

_Pan-Son-Briefs:_ Well I updated, so now you can love me forever. hehe just kidding. 

_The Gypsy-Pirate Queen Teetering on the Brink of Insanity Past the Point of No Return Man Life Sucks : _Well first off, I love the name. Second off, I'm glad you liked my story!

_Niveneh:_ Oh come on now, who doesn't love cliff hangers? Tell me what you think of the new installment, because I love reviews P


	3. The Diary's Advantage

**A/N: **I keep writing chapters to this story, except they're all out of sequence. And sometimes I write a specific chapter in more than one version to see what fits best. I'm trying to make this story the best it can be, so please be patient with me. And remember, reviews make me write faster.

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, and I am just a sad little author for fanfiction creating new stories from her original ideas.

---

Ron and Harry woke the next morning and got dressed quietly and quickly and headed down to the Common Room to wait for Hermione. _Thank Merlin it's Saturday._ Harry sighed. _We have big plans for today._ He sank down into his favorite armchair in front of the fireplace and saw Ron did the same. They were both itching to go to the Room of Requirement, and both knew it. They couldn't tell Hermione about this because if they did, they'd have to tell her about the diary they found. And then they would have to tell her that they were reading her personal diary, which could only lead to trouble. So, they decided to eat breakfast with her and then head off for a made up quiditch practice.

"Ron, are you sure you want to violate more of Hermione's privacy? We already read three old entries, which is three more than we should be reading." Harry asked sensibly. He grinned as Ron looked horrified at the thought, just like he knew he would.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my best mate?" Ron obviously thought that that Harry was going mental.

"Well I just had to say that to clear my conscious." Harry replied.

"Why does your conscious need clearing?" Harry gasped at Hermione's voice. He turned to see her standing behind him.

"How much of that did you hear Hermione?" Harry asked. "You know, it's not nice to sneak up on someone's private conversation."

_You're one to be talking about someone's private business._ He thought.

"Just that you needed to clear your conscious." She answered simply. "Why do you need to clear it?"

"I was being sarcastic," he quickly covered himself.

Ron filled in the silence. "Ready for breakfast Hermione?"

"Okay, let's go." She sighed, realizing defeat.

They headed out of the portrait of the fat lady, and walked together to the Great Hall. Ron nudged Harry when he was about to make the turn that headed to the Room of Requirement, and he quickly acted as if nothing happened. Hermione was chatting away about something, and he was surprised to note that Ron was actually paying attention. He looked over at him to see a large wink as he mouthed, "I care." Harry couldn't help but laugh at this and when Hermione looked quizzically at him, he pretended that what she said was amusing to him. They reached the Great Hall just in time for an owl delivering the Daily Prophet to land neatly in front of Hermione. She put a knut in it's pouch and disappeared behind it.

Ron and Harry ate their breakfast, and as always Ron stuffed his face and tried to talk at the same time. "Wataff weif haffif wawrown clidititich pwactice twadway?" Hermione looked disgusted and went back to her article. Harry laughed at his friend and replied, "I have no idea what you just said, Ron." Ron swallowed all the food in his mouth and said, "I _said_, 'What if we have our own quiditch practice today?"

"Well that was a creative way to say that." Harry grinned. "But, yes, I think that would be a good way to celebrate that our homework is all the way completed." He looked over at Hermione to see her reaction to this.

Like he expected, her jaw dropped. "No way." She uttered in disbelief. "You finished all your homework? Why?"

"Well I guess we didn't want to fail school so that we can become the best aurors the magical world has ever seen." he added with careful attention to the last few words.

Now it was Ron's jaw to drop. He quickly closed his mouth so Hermione wouldn't see _his_ expression at these words.

She looked shaken for a minute, and then shook her head and said,"Well, Harry, Ron, I'm sooo proud of you." She stood on tiptoe and kissed Ron on the cheek and then did the same to Harry. "We really should celebrate you doing all your homework."

Both the boys touched their cheek where Hermione kissed them but Ron had the sense to answer first. "Well, Hermione that sounds great, but tonight we have something planned. Maybe tomorrow we can celebrate when we go into Hogsmeade."

"Great idea, Ron. I have to be off now, but I'll see you both later."

"Bye Hermione." Harry replied.

"See ya 'Mione." Ron added.


	4. Ginny's Diary

**A/N: **The chapters from 3-5 where all originally one chapter, but I decided to separate them so as to not give away too much of the story at once. 

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Harry Potter, do you think I would be writing a fanfiction?

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As soon as Hermione was gone, Ron and Harry both headed directly for the room of requirement. The paced the hall thinking hard about the exact same place they were last time. But this time, when a door popped up, it had a large silver handle. _Well that's weird. When we used this place for DA meetings, it was always the same kind of door. Maybe we shouldn't open it. _He looked at Ron and wondered aloud, "Why do you think the doorknob changed?" Ron shrugged and reached for the door. "Well I dunno but it would be stupid to just stand here."

They entered the room and Harry sighed with relief that the room looked exactly the same, except for the addition of three beds. _Maybe that's why it changed?_ Harry questioned himself. He was still looking around when he realized that all the pictures on the ceiling and walls had a line down the middle; on the left was Hermione and on the right was Ginny. When he looked up, Ron was pulling down books from the shelves with a weird look on his face. "Um…Ron?" Harry asked nervously. "What are you doing?"

"Harry! Didn't you think about what all these other books were?" he exclaimed.

"No, I figured they were all romance novels or something." He answered.

"Romance what-ys?" Ron looked up from his frantic scurry to pull books off the shelves.

"Never mind." He rolled his eyes. Of course Ron wouldn't know what a romance novel was. He didn't even know what fanfiction was! Now that's sad.

"Well anyways you'll never guess what these are! More diaries!" he grinned. "Come look! There's probably one for every girl in the school. But I wasn't raised by muggles and I didn't know what they were, so how come all the girls do?"

"No idea, mate." He replied as soon as he was over there reading name after name. _Because girls are smarter. _His mind stated matter-of-factly. "Wow, this is amazing! If every guy could come in this room and see all these diaries than maybe we could understand what woman want! I never thought this was possible, but look at all these names: Hannah Abbott, Alyssa Pacid, Samantha Patil…"

He continued reading the names of the diary owners. He stopped dead in his tracks when he read the name, "Ginny Weasley."


	5. Ron's Feelings

**A/N: **Sorry the last three were short. I really like the cliffy to this chapter. I promise that later on in the story it will get more into the other diaries and the humor part. I'm not too good at writing humor, but I'm trying. Draco will also be coming in soon, for all you Draco crazed fans.

**Disclaimer: **Oh yeah, I definitely own Harry Potter.

---

_He continued reading the names of the diary owners. He stopped dead in his tracks when he read the name, "Ginny Weasley."_ _  
---_

I could learn things about her that I'd never know otherwise. This is like Christmas Eve. He now fully understood why Ron was so anxious to read Hermione's diary. What was written inside could tell you things that would completely change the way you thought about the person and what you did to impress them. It would change the way you looked at them and how you talked to them. It would change everything.

"How did my sister know what a diary was?" Ron uttered in disbelief. "I feel plain out stupid for not knowing, now!"

Harry was barely listening. _Should I open this book of secret thoughts, dreams, and wishes? It's a violation of privacy, it's wrong. If she ever found out she would never lov…wait! I don't love her. She doesn't love me. Why am I worrying so much!_

"Ron, do you want to read Hermione's diary right now or Ginny's or one of the many other's in here?" Harry looked thoughtfully at him.

"Well honestly I've been waiting since yesterday to read more of Hermione's." He replied.

_Okay, that's a good idea. I don't want to read Ginny's and invade her privacy. I'll put it off as long as possible._

"Ok. Do you want to read or should I?"

"Well if I read I'll keep stopping. You should."

"Ok. One more question, should we read from the beginning like we've been doing or go to the recent ones?" Harry asked.

"Beginning." Ron said quickly. "We can work our way to the beginning."

"Ok." Harry started reading. "Sounds good. Dear Diary, I've been feeling weird around Ron lately. He runs off at the most random times to go 'somewhere' and usually ends up gone for hours. Maybe he's snogging random girls in the broom closets or something. Honestly, I don't know why I care so much. Do you think that I'm obsessed? Well of course, you don't think anything. You're a diary. But the Hogsmead trip is coming up and hopefully Michael Corner and Ginny..." Ron grinded his teeth so loudy at mention of Michael's name that Harry stopped reading. "and hopefully Michael Corner and Ginny will have a lovely time, since it is their first date. Ginny can't shut up about him, honestly. If I didn't feel so weird around Ron at the moment I would tell him, but I fear it would kill him to know his 'baby' sister is dating. (I can laugh and say that she's probably dated more people than him, especially since I can only think of one person he 'dated' and I think that was just for the snogging.)"

Ron looked hurt by this comment. Harry read quickly on, hoping for something a little nicer. "Well actually I think that I'm acting a bit mean to him. I was with Victor at the time, so I imagine he felt that if someone as weird and ugly and stupid as me was dating, then there was something wrong with him. He ruined the whole Yule Ball for me by not plucking up the courage and asking me. Not that I wanted to go with him anyways. But it still hurt. Well diary, as the old saying goes, no use crying over spilled potion. Goodnight."

Ron looked at Harry. "She's not weird, ugly, or stupid. I didn't ask her because I was afraid." 

Harry continued with the next entry because he already knew that Hermione was none of the things, but saying so might make Ron mad. He had never thought she was ugly. And she was definitely not stupid.

"Do you know that not once in this diary have I written about my love life? Well actually, I'm not sure I have a love life. Having crushes on guys are not the same as loving them. And the one guy I have a crush on could never love me. I'm too ugly, weird, fat.." And as the things against her piled up, Ron looked more and more angry, as if the diary was calling her those names.

"SHE'S NOT UGLY! She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and she's the smartest person in the whole world. Why do girls beat down on themselves by calling themselves fat when every guy in the school knows she's skinny? Maybe it's something that only girls understand. What _I _don't understand how Hermione can be so insecure when she's honestly so amazing."

_And here I thought Ron was insensitive. _Harry thought happily. He turned to see the most shocking sight imaginable. Hermione was standing at the door of the room of requirement crying.


	6. Mood Swings

**A/N: **Well since some of you actually seem to like my story, I updated as soon as I could. This is my favorite chapter, but poor Harry is left out. I couldn't wait any longer for this chapter (it was one of the first ones I wrote.)

**Disclaimer**: I own Harry Potter, Microwavable Popcorn, and Sliced Bread.

---__

"Her-Hermione!" Ron spluttered. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing here?"

Harry quickly hid the notebook and thought with all his might, _I wish the diaries were gone, except Hermione's_. As soon as he had thought this, the books vanished into thin air. _Wow, I wonder if she noticed_.

He looked up at Hermione and thought instantly of Cho. _Why do girls have to cry and make things difficult? I can't stand it when a girl cries, it always makes me feel so awful._ While Hermione was standing there bawling and shaking, Harry noticed that one of the sleeves of her robe was torn and her arm was red and scratched up. Her bushy hair was messy and her eyes were red and puffy. She kept sniffing and then trying not to cry, which in turn only made louder noises. Under her robe she was wearing a shimmering blue top with beads. Her simple white capri pants had small rips in the bottom of one leg, and all in all she looked torn up.

Hermione turned to close the door slowly and quietly and stood there a moment with her back heaving up and down. She still hadn't answered Ron, so he walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, why are you crying?" he asked carefully.

_I wonder if she caught us reading her diary._

"Well actually," she began quietly. "There are a few reasons."

Ron had a look on his face that told Harry he was genuinely worried about her. He usually showed the emotional range of a teaspoon, as Hermione had nicely put it. But whenever Hermione showed up, Ron's whole attitude changed. Harry had never noticed that he could be so sensitive, because well, he was usually an uncaring idiot. Even with all the loyalty he had for his best friend, he couldn't challenge the fact that Ron had never showed such a powerful emotion of caring until lately. He also couldn't argue that the change only showed up around Hermione.

"Come on 'Mione. Sit down. You can tell me anything." They sat together on one of the three beds and Hermione started to cry on Ron's shoulder. The bed was shaking slightly, just as was Hermione. Despite the tears pouring out, Ron looked absolutely elated to have her there next to him. Harry wondered if he should leave or stay, and compromised by sitting on one of the other beds and waiting.

She spluttered, "Well…first off…I was having a bad...bad time with Ginny and she… she said some things. I couldn't…couldn't find you two so I … I thought I could come here and … relax a little bit and just…hide from the world. But … you…were here." She tried to smile but the tears in between her words made it difficult.

"What did Ginny say that made you cry?" Ron looked so fierce and angry that anything in this world could make her cry, that even Harry was a bit afraid.

"It doesn't matter, Ron. It was stupid. We got in a fight and we both said things that….that I don't think either of us meant. And…I just broke down." She answered.

"Nothing that makes you cry is stupid, Hermione." He said quietly. Sensing that she didn't want to talk about what Ginny had said, he continued. "What else happened?"

Harry was still watching his two best friends as if they were a movie, which in a sense, they were. He was watching them as if on a movie screen. _It's like when you watch a scary movie and you know that the bad guy is coming around the corner or hiding in the closet, but no matter how much you scream at the girl, you really can't help her._ Harry was feeling the same about Ron and Hermione, because no matter what he said, he really couldn't interrupt the moment.

"I ran into…Malfoy in the hallway." She began, and as soon as she got the word out of her mouth, Ron looked as if he could kill. Harry himself wanted to strangle his enemy, and the only reason was because his best friend was crying and Malfoy's name was involved. "And he was standing there leaning against the wall. So I saw him and I … guess… I stared a bit." She admitted shamefully. "And as I walked past him, he leaned close to me and whispered something in my ear. But what he said wasn't mean. He didn't even have a smirk on his face or a coldhearted tone to his voice. He just calmly said, 'Hi Hermi… er, Granger.' He had to correct himself, but he called me Hermione, and he was nice about it." She looked shocked. "So then I was dazed a bit and walked after him and I said 'Hi Draco, I mean, Malfoy'. Then the _jerk_ Zabini saw me talking to his mate, and then threw a spell at me and cried, 'Get away, stupid m..'. Well you know what he said." She was apparently unable to say moodblood. "Then he shot a spell at me and tore up my sleeve and pants leg because I wasn't expecting it, and Malfoy grabbed his wand and cursed him to hang by his feet! It was the most shocking thing I've ever experienced! Malfoy was defending me. When I asked him about it, he shrugged and said, 'It was an unfair fight.' And he walked off."

Ron stared in disbelief, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. Draco, defending Hermione? "Wow." he managed to choke out.

_Malfoy? There was no way he would defend her since he so ferociously called her names and made fun of her. Why in the world would he help her? There's something wrong with that._

"Yeah, I don't know Ron, but I think maybe…he's changed." She sighed, expecting an outburst.

"Maybe…but I doubt that _that_..." he searched for the right words to describe him, "_ferret _could change his ways. You never told me…what else made you cry?"

"Oh that." She stood up and slapped him across the face. "As if I didn't realize when I walked in that you were reading my personal diary. You pig, you filthy faced pig! How dare you invade my privacy like that?" she tapped her foot, expecting an answer.

_Wow. Can you say mood swings?_ Harry thought quickly afterwords.

"Hermione, curiosity came over me, and I feel terrible for reading it, although I did learn some valuable things about you." He looked deeply hurt after dishing out all those emotions.

"Well I don't know if I can forgive you for that, but you did say that I was amazing even though I was insecure." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek where she had slapped him. "Sorry about that, Ronald."

"Well Hermione, it was all true. You're beaut…brave and smart." He had obviously meant to say beautiful, but couldn't. "You're…beautiful." He blushed bright red and with his red hair he looked like a Christmas bobble.

Hermione looked at Ron and then cuddled next to him on the bed. "Thanks Ron." She sighed.

Harry laughed at them, and noticed that they obviously forgot that he was there.

_I think this is my cue to leave._


	7. Ron's Job

**A/N: **Draco will slowly ease more and more into the story, I imagine. This story will also have some romantic moments in it later. Please, if you like the story, hate the story, or have ideas or criticism for me, press the blue button at the bottom. Reviews make this whole process worthwhile. If you write your own stories, you know the reward of reviews. Ok this A/N is too long, so on with the disclaimer and the story.  
**  
Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, and I deeply thank her for inspiring all the stories you read on fanfiction under the tab _Harry Potter._

Harry was the first to wake in his dormitory. He stretched and got dressed quickly and quietly. He slipped into his shoes and walked down the stairs to wait for Ron to wake up. He sighed as he sunk into his favorite armchair. Harry jumped as he heard someone approach behind him. He turned to see a gorgeous Ginny… _NO! You can't love her, Harry. You don't love her. Don't think about her that way!_

"Hi Harry." Ginny said in a cheerful voice.

"Morning Ginny." He replied in his own cheery voice he knew wasn't his own.

"Got a good Sunday planned?" she asked.

"Just a normal one, I guess." He replied

_Don't act so boring! Talk about something more worthwhile. Don't say anything stupid! _

"Harry…are you alright?" she looked at him with genuine concern on her face. "You seem to be a little jittery lately."

"I'm fine Gin." He was relieved to hear the fake cheeriness gone.

"I like it when you call me that." She smiled. "Even though u say that you're fine I want you to know that you can tell me anything. I will never judge you, Harry. Even if you did something terrible like kill someone, you can tell me." She finished quietly.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ginny. Thanks. You don't know how much that means to me." He gulped down his nervousness and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. You can ask me anything. Although, admittedly, I don't guarantee an answer." She laughed.

"Do you have a boyfriend since you dumped..." He thought through all her past boyfriends. "since Dean?" _It's sad that I had to go through such a long list. _

"Well actually, yes. I fancied that new boy on our quiditch team. Apparently he fancied me too, so we're together now."

You shouldn't care this much Harry. Be happy for her.

"Oh that's great!" he said with the fake cheery voice. "Well, um, I promised Ron I'd go with him to wherever he's dragging me. So I'll see you later."

Ginny looked confused, but nodded and said her goodbyes. He headed out of the portrait and had no idea where he was walking until he realized he was outside the room of requirement. He was supposed to come here with Ron, but apparently he was so upset his feet carried him here without his body knowing.

He tried not to think about Ginny, but the thought came coming back to him.

_Chris is a git. It should be me. _

Then his mind would scream at him for thinking about anything like that.

_No! You. Do. Not. Love. Ginny. Weasely!_

A door popped up with a large brass handle but he suddenly wondered how it could know that he wanted the room he went into the other night. He didn't want to question it, so he turned the handle and walked in.

It was exactly the same as the last time he was in here with Ron, except for one difference. The three beds were gone. Up on the ceiling were pictures of Hermione, so he wondered why it was already changed before he entered the room. _Maybe Ron beat me here_ he thought._ No, that's impossible. _He argued with himself. _When I left, Ron was sleeping._

But he was interrupted by a voice he knew all too well.

"_You_." Sneered his enemy, Draco Malfoy.

"_You _where seeing pictures of Hermione on the ceiling!" Harry nearly screamed.

"No…actually, that must have been you, Potter." He smirked. "Because unlike you, I do not love ugly _mudbloods_."

"TAKE IT BACK!" Harry clutched his wand and pointed it directly him.

"Oh so you think your precious little '_Mione_ is BEAUTIFUL, do you?" He laughed.

"That's not what I wanted you to take back, Malfoy." He looked at him menacingly.

"So you think she's ugly also?" He laughed as he took out his own wand and pointed it back at Harry.

"No, I…" He faltered. "I don't like Hermione like that. TAKE BACK WHAT YOU CALLED HER! You don't to deserve to know someone as fantastic as her, you little _ferret_." His smirk was almost comparable to Malfoy's.

That did it.

Malfoy yelled, "Stupefy" but Harry was one step ahead.

"EXPELLARMIUS!" he shouted, as his wand flew out of his hand.

"Acio Wand." He said and the wand flew to his hand.

It was Malfoy's turn to falter. "I.. you…Hermione."

"APPOLOGIZE, you worthless scum. Hermione is not … what you called her. So take it back before I snap your wand in half." Harry snarled.

Right before he could say something else, he was hit sharply in the back of the head and he was engulfed in blackness before he hit the ground.

He woke up startled and looked into the face of Ginny. "Draco...I...Ginny?" he stuttered, knowing fully well he was making no sense at all. Ginny calmly talked to him, intentionally soothing him. "Shhh...it's alright Harry. Draco's not here." she pushed his hair back.

Suddenly a bottle of blueish liquid was forced into his hands. To his dismay, he heard faint instructions to drink whatever was in the bottle. He put it to his lips, swallowed it in one large gulp, and only then did he taste the horrible aftertaste. It didn't really matter that much to him because right as he tasted it, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next time he had stirred awake, he actually was awake. He registered for the first time that all he could see what white. _I'm dead, _he thought frantically. _I died and there's nothing I can do to help anyone. Voldemort will rule again and it's all my fault. I'm **dead**. How can I be dead?_ Once his mind was done babbling his vision focused and he realized the white was from the clean surroundings of the hospital wing. _I'm not dead_. His mind stated bluntly. Harry looked over at the chairs to see who was in them. Hermione, who was in the one closet to him, had not looked up from the magazine she was reading and apparently was very engrossed in the article. Harry was happy to note that Ron was sitting in the chair next to her although he seemed to be fidgety and looked at the ceiling every few seconds. They were apparently waiting for him to wake up, so he over dramatized this by stretching and yawning far more than a normal human would.

Hermione's deep brown eyes looked up and instantly sparkled when she saw Harry was awake. "Harry!" she exclaimed, jumping up and rushing to his bedside. She threw her arms around him and when he moaned in pain she carefully drew away. "Sorry." she murmured.

Ron had walked over by this time and grinned at his best friend. "That was a nasty fall off your broom, according to Malfoy. Harry, I think he saved your life." Even with the compliment towards their enemy, he still looked angry at the mention of Malfoy's name.

"I...fell off a broom?" he asked carefully. He actually had no idea what had happened to get him here, so falling off his broom seemed like a reasonable answer.

"I told you that I thought Malfoy had changed!" Hermione beamed. "He saved your life, after all." Hermione cradled the magazine gently as she said looked straight into Harry's emerald eyes. She was looking for some sort of agreement or disagreement, any form of emotion that had to do with the blonde headed Slytherin.

"Hermione..I don't think I fell off my broom." Harry said, staring back into Hermione's chocolate brown eyes. He was searching for the truth in his words, which he obviously didn't find. He tore his eyes away and looked at Ron.

"You...didn't fall? Then why did Malfoy say..." she began cautiously.

"I don't remember exactly Hermione," he interrupted. "I just know that you shouldn't trust him. I don't think I fell off my broom, and I don't think Malfoy saved me."

He still wasn't looking at Hermione, though purposely now. He was looking anywhere but at her. He looked at Ron for help who just nodded as though he agreed.

"But...he carried you in here. Well, actually he levitated you with _wingardium leviosa_, but that's not the point. He saved you Harry. Even Madame Pomfrey told me that Draco saved you. You had an awful split on your head, according to her." she looked so desperate to prove Malfoy was a good guy, and it shocked him. But that wasn't the only thing that shocked him. Ron had noticed it too and instantly spoke up.

"You called him Draco." he said, with an utterly perplexed look on his face. He gave Harry a what-is-wrong-with-her look.

"Oh, well... I..." she blushed, deeply taken aback. "I meant to say Draco Malfoy...but I guess I got carried away..." She, for the first time, looked confused. "It shouldn't matter whether I call him Draco or I call him Malfoy. They're both his name, after all. And 'Malfoy' reminds me too much of Lucius Malfoy, who is far, far worse than his son."

It was justifiable, to Ron at least. "Well, I guess." he admitted. "The name Malfoy does remind me of his father."

"His mum is also odd," Hermione was completely keen to change the subject, and Harry knew it.

"Hermione, you didn't call him Draco on purpose. You also didn't mean to say Draco Malfoy. I think you are starting to like him, Hermione." He said accusingly.

Ron gave him another furtive look, this time as if saying are you kidding me?

Harry looked purposely into Hermione's eyes but she avoided his gaze. "That's ridiculous! He's our worst enemy, he's vile, and cruel, and he thinks I'm horrible because I'm a mudblood." Even she looked upset at the word, but not near as upset as Ron, who was fuming. He had been silent for a while but now he spoke up.

"Harry, stop being insane. No one could possibly have an friendship with _him_." He said the last word with as much hate as he could muster. "She doesn't even like him."

Harry knew better than to argue, and as he had a searing headache he used this as an excuse to sleep.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I was wrong." Harry said quietly.

"It's fine, Harry. I know you didn't really mean it." She answered quickly.

She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight, Harry."

As Ron and Hermione walked to the door, he heard them bickering. The last thing he heard before the door closed clearly cut through the room.

"How come you don't kiss me on the forehead like that?" Ron said, faking anger.

"Because," answered Hermione, with the same feigned anger as Ron, "That's your job."

**A/N: **

Thanks so much to all my reviewers. Hugs All

Especially the ones that like my story. Please, if you have any ideas, thoughts, and/or critisim, press the button. I like..no _love _all reviews.


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